Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
biography - 5 dictionary results

bi⋅og⋅ra⋅phy

[bahy-og-ruh-fee, bee-]
–noun, plural -phies.
1. a written account of another person's life: the biography of Byron by Marchand.
2. an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.
3. such writings collectively.
4. the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.

Origin:
1675–85; < Gk biographía. See bio-, -graphy
bi·og·ra·phy   (bī-ŏg'rə-fē)   
n.   pl. bi·og·ra·phies
  1. An account of a person's life written, composed, or produced by another: a film biography of Adlai Stevenson; an oral biography.
  2. Biographies considered as a group, especially when regarded as a genre.
  3. The writing, composition, or production of biographies: a career entirely devoted to biography.

[Late Greek biographiā : Greek bio-, bio- + Greek -graphiā, -graphy.]

Biography

Bi*og"ra*phy\, n.; pl. Biographies. [Gr. ?; ? life + ? to write: cf. F. biographie. See Graphic.]

1. The written history of a person's life.

2. Biographical writings in general.
Language Translation for : biography
Spanish: biografía,
German: die Biographie,
Japanese: 伝記

biography

The story of someone's life. The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell, and Abraham Lincoln, by Carl Sandburg, are two noted biographies. The story of the writer's own life is an autobiography.


biography 
1683, probably from L. biographia, from Gk. bio- "life" (see bio-) + graphia "record, account," from graphein "to write." Biographia was not in classical Gk., though it is attested in later Gk. from c.500. Biopic (1951) is from "biographical picture."
Search another word or see biography on Thesaurus | Reference